BMW Unveils Its Funky Electric i3, Taking Aim At Both Chevy And Tesla

After months of teasers and years of testing, BMW showed off the i3 today, its first electric vehicle designed to go into full production. The odd-looking hatchback offers some of the “green cred” of Toyota’s Prius, combined with a promise of BMW-like driving that should please those who don’t want to give up much performance to get there. But because BMW also offers an option of a small gasoline engine to extend the car’s range up to 160+ miles, the i3 ends up encroaching on the territory of both the Chevrolet Volt and even some of the ground Tesla Motors TSLA +3.54% is seeking to conquer.

What the heck is this thing?

The specifics of the i3 are no accident. BMW has spent 2 billion euro developing electric vehicles, running pilot programs where a number of Mini Coopers and 1-series sedans were leased to real-world customers. The company learned that most people drive 30 miles a day, it says. Like Nissan’s Leaf, the i3 will travel 80-100 miles on a single charge, though BMW claims its ECO PRO and ECO PRO+ modes will add 12 and 24%, respectively to that.
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Because the car is shipping in spring of 2014, it will benefit from the latest in charging technology, which is a plus and minus. The SAE DC Combo charger will allow for a 20 minute recharge to 80% of a full battery (a Leaf can achieve a similar result on a comparable charger). Sounds great, but the few fast chargers in place so far are either Tesla’s proprietary Superchargers or generally support a different standard popular in Japan called CHAdeMO. The hope is that most will end up supporting SAE and CHAdeMO, but don’t expect the fast chargers at Nissan dealers, for example, to become i3 friendly anytime soon.

Where the i3 separates itself from the Leaf, though, is through the range-extender option. Though the engine is tiny (it’s a 2 cylinder displacing .65 liters) and the gas tank holds only 2.4 gallons, the extender will double the car’s range to 160 miles or more by keeping the battery charged. The practicality of stopping to refill the range extender every 80 miles means this isn’t designed to make a 400 mile trip from, say, San Francisco to Los Angeles. But New York to Washington, D.C. might not be out of the question.

To completely eliminate range concerns, though, BMW is offering an option to allow owners to rent an X5 SUV for up to several weeks for year to take a road trip. Cost is to be determined.

The i3, BMW says, is a true 4 seater and has the interior space of the 3-series sedan with an exterior footprint closer to the smaller 1 series. The extra room is one of the benefits of electrics and even the range extender option fits under the vehicle floor near the batteries. While the i3 is technically a 2-door hatchback, it has smaller back doors that are hinged in the rear allowing a wide opening that should make getting in and out fairly easy.
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